The goal of his research is to overcome the technical limitations of large scale conventional manufacturing processes, develop new processes and nano/micro-devices with good understanding of fundamental physics and chemistry, and to use these nano/micro-systems to advance health care. His research is highly interdisciplinary, involving laser physics, photonics, nano/micro-manufacturing, thermal/fluid transport, nanomaterials, and biomedical engineering on a small length scale and/or time scale.

Capsule Bio:

Dr. Shaochen Chen is a Professor and Vice Chair in the Department of NanoEngineering and an Affiliated Professor in the Department of Bioengineering at the University of California San Diego. He is the founding co-director of the Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering Center at UC San Diego. He received his PhD in Mechanical Engineering in 1999 from the University of California, Berkeley. Before joining UC San Diego, Dr. Chen had been a Professor and a Pearlie D. Henderson Centennial Endowed Faculty Fellow in Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin from 2001 to 2010. Between 2008 and 2010, he served as the Program Director for the Nanomanufacturing Program in the National Science Foundation (NSF).

Dr. Chen’s primary research interests include: biomaterials and tissue engineering, 3D printing and bioprinting, stem cell and regenerative medicine, laser and nanomanufacturing. He has published over 120 papers in top journals and 12 book/book chapters. He is a leading expert in micro- and nanoscale 3D printing and pioneered the development of projection style 3D bioprinting techniques for rapid printing of cell-laden tissue scaffolds. These precise biomimetic scaffolds offer a unique platform for the investigation of cell interactions with microenvironments and the creation of micro-physiological systems such as liver-on-a-chip and heart-on-a-chip.

Among his numerous awards, Dr. Chen received the CAREER award from NSF, Young Investigator award from the Office of Naval Research (ONR), and Edward Nagy New Investigator Award from the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB). As an active member in his professional community, Dr. Chen is a Fellow of five major societies including the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE), the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), the International Society for Optics and Photonics (SPIE), and the International Society for NanoManufacturing (ISNM).